A man claimed that he found a ‘metal piece’ in the strawberries he had bought in Singapore

A Singaporean went on Twitter last week to post a photo of a piece of metal he found in strawberries that he had bought. This comes after multiple reports from consumers in several Australian states finding needles hidden inside their strawberries.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) has responded to Tang’s tweet, saying that they “would like to follow up on the case”. AVA also said that T.L.B Strawberries, the brand shown in the photo of Tang’s tweet, was not from the six implicated brands in Australia.

It was reported that the strawberries were bought from a local market run by Mahota. On Sept 21, Mahota told The Straits Times that they have since removed all the strawberries from its shelves, including one batch which was imported from Perth, Australia.

Mahota claimed that the Australian strawberry producer had “provided an official undertaking and video showing that their strawberries undergo strict checks including metal detector checks before sale”.

However, the Singapore supplier, Total Fresh, said that the batch sold to Mahota did not go through metal detectors as the checks had not started at the time. No other complaints have been received about Total Fresh’s strawberries, which were distributed to Mahota on Sept 12.

Supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice said it has not received similar reports but has seen strawberry sales dip about 10 per cent since the scare in Australia.

Tang has also since deleted the tweet.

I have decided to delete my last tweet with pic of my strawberry. My intention was always to warn my friends, especially those with kids, and get the relevant authorities to do the necessary investigations and checks. It was never meant to create unnecessary fear nor commotion.